| John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919. |
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| NUMBER: | 8841 |
| AUTHOR: | Plutarch (A.D. 46?–A.D. c. 120) |
| QUOTATION: | “These Macedonians,” said he, “are a rude and clownish people, that call a spade a spade.” 1 |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. 2 Philip. |
| | Note 1.
[greek].—Aristophanes, as quoted in Lucian, Quom. Hist. sit conscrib. 41.
Brought up like a rude Macedon, and taught to call a spade a spade.—Gosson: Ephemerides of Phialo (1579). [back] | Note 2.
Rejected by some critics as not a genuine work of Plutarch.—Ralph Waldo Emerson. [back] |
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